A new Land Rover ad has been banned by UK regulators after the spot received just two complaints.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) pulled the spot because it agreed it had “mislead” viewers about the ability of the vehicle depicted, the Defender’s, parking sensors.
The ad shows the Defender parking on a cliff edge, utilising the reversing camera and parking sensors. ASA believed that some viewers may believe that the 4WD’s assistance systems could prevent someone from reversing off a cliff.
It’s the work of agency Spark44, which is half-owned by Jaguar Land Rover. Check out the offending spot below:
In outlining its decision, ASA said: “While the ads showed the vehicles using their features and manoeuvring in extreme conditions, we considered viewers would see them as illustrating how the vehicles would perform in all environments, including everyday settings.
“We considered the ads focused on the reversing feature and included a scene with an in-car camera view. The camera was shown in “on-road” mode and the sensor beeped as the vehicle approached the edge of the cliff over which the car would fall if the brakes were not applied.
“We considered some viewers would therefore interpret that to mean that the car’s parking sensors could recognise when drivers might be reversing near a drop, which might include a smaller hill edge or a drop before water found in “on-road” areas, both in urban and more rural settings,” ASA said.